The 2007 edition of the MARC Code List for Languages is now available from the Library of Congress. This new publication contains a list of languages and their associated three-character alphabetic codes that allow for the designation of the language or languages in MARC records. References from variant forms and specific language names assigned to group codes are included. This edition contains 484 discrete codes, of which 55 are used for groups of languages.

The list includes all valid codes and code assignments as of September 2007 and supersedes the 2003 edition of the MARC Code List for Languages. There are 27 code additions and 12 changed code captions in this edition.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

The revised Character set specifications are now posted on the MARC site. They take into account the use of the full Unicode repertoire, as opposed to only the MARC-8 subset of Unicode, and also include the loss-less and lossy techniques for converting full Unicode to MARC-8 repertoire that were approved this year.

The MARC-8 specifications are still part of the document and the MARC-8 character code tables and mappings have some improved formatting, but no changes have been made to the MARC-8 to Unicode character set mappings.The XML (all MARC-8 repertoire) and comma-delimited (East Asian MARC-8 only) files are still downloadable, but we plan to improve the XML file in the near future. We are interested to know whether the comma-delimited file is used, as we may only need to offer the XML for download.

It includes links to the recently-approved amendment to the expression entity, to the 1998 text in PDF and HTML, to errata that were identified during the review process, and to a new list of basic readings about FRBR.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

An updated specification for DC-TEXT, a syntax for serializing, or representing, a Dublin Core metadata description set in plain text, has been published as a DCMI Recommended Resource.

The "Description Set Model" of the DCMI Abstract Model [DCAM] describes the constructs that make up a DC metadata description set. This document specifies a syntax for serialising, or representing, a DC metadata description set in plain text. The format is referred to as "DC-Text". A plain text format for serialisation of such description sets is useful as a means of presenting examples in a human-readable form which highlights the constructs of the DCMI Abstract Model, and also as a means of comparing the information represented in other machine-processable formats.

Monday, December 03, 2007

The codes listed below have been recently approved for use in MARC 21 records. The codes will be added to the online MARC Code Lists for Relators, Sources, Description Conventions.

These codes should not be used in exchange records until after January 30, 2008. This 60-day waiting period is required to provide MARC 21 implementers time to include newly defined codes in any validation tables they may apply to the MARC fields where the codes are used.

Term, Name, Title Sources

The following codes are for use in subfield $2 in fields 600-657 in Bibliographic and Community Information records, and in subfield $f in field 040 (Cataloging Source) in Authority records.

Additions:

asrcrfcd

Australian Standard Research Classification: Research Fields, Courses and Disciplines (RFCD) classification (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics) [use only after January 30, 2008]

asrcseo

Australian Standard Research Classification: Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) classification (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics) [use only after January 30, 2008]

asrctoa

Australian Standard Research Classification: Type of Activity(TOA) classification (Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics) [use only after January 30, 2008]

Sunday, December 02, 2007

I'm signed up for TLA. Did it too late to get a decent rate on a conference hotel so I'll be staying behind the convention center. From the map it looks close, not a bad walk. I'm on the ballot for councilor for the Digital Library group. So, I'll be going there and to the TRGCC events.

Last Spring I suggested they have Cali Lewis on the program. She lives in Dallas and has a video podcast, Geekbrief. Her story is great, two years ago she was working at a u-rent-space place and heard about podcasting. Without any experience she and her husband started one . Now, that is their job. She has been on TV and rubs shoulders with Web 2.0 luminaries. Since I was the one to suggest her, I hope she gets a good turnout. I should be there unless it conflicts with the DL or TRGCC events, or its part of a preconference workshop. Hope not.